Madden-Julian oscillation teleconnections and their influence on Northern Hemisphere winter blocking

2017 Spring.Includes bibliographical references.Winter blocking events are characterized by persistent and quasi-stationary patterns that re-direct precipitation and air masses, leading to long-lasting extreme winter weather. Studies have shown that the teleconnection patterns forced by the primary mode of tropical intraseasonal variability, the Madden-Julian Oscillation (MJO), influence extratropical factors associated with blocking, such as the North Atlantic Oscillation. However, the influence of the MJO on winter blocking is not well understood. Understanding this relationship may improve the mid-range forecasting of winter blocking and the associated weather extremes. The impact of the MJO on Northern Hemisphere winter blocking is examined using a two-dimensional blocking index. Results suggest that all MJO phases demonstrate significant changes in west and central Pacific high-latitude blocking. East Pacific and Atlantic blocking are significantly suppressed following phase 3 of the MJO, characterized by anomalous convection in the tropical East Indian Ocean and suppressed convection in the west Pacific. A significant increase in east Pacific and Atlantic blocking follows the opposite-signed MJO heating during MJO phase 7. Over Europe, blocking is suppressed following MJO phase 4 and significantly increased after MJO phase 6. Results suggest that the European blocking increase may be due to two precursors: 1) a pre-existing anomalous Atlantic anticyclone, and 2) a negative Pacific North American (PNA) pattern triggered by the MJO. The influence of the MJO on winter blocking may be different if a change occurs to the basic state and/or MJO heating, such as during El Niño – Southern Oscillation (ENSO) events. MJO teleconnections during ENSO events are examined using composite analysis and a nonlinear baroclinic model and their influence of winter high-latitude blocking is discussed. Results demonstrate that the ENSO-altered MJO teleconnection patterns significantly influence Pacific and Atlantic blocking and the impacts depend on ENSO phase. During El Niño, Pacific and Atlantic blocking is significantly increased following MJO phase 7, with maximum Atlantic blocking frequency anomalies reaching triple the climatological winter mean blocking frequency. Results suggest that the MJO forces the initial anomalous Atlantic dipole associated with the blocking increase, and transient eddy activity aids in its persistence. During La Niña, significant changes to high-latitude blocking are mostly observed during the first half of an MJO event, with significant suppression of Pacific and Atlantic blocking following MJO phase 3. MJO teleconnection patterns may also be altered by basic state and MJO heating biases in General Circulation Models (GCMs), important for mid-range forecasting and future climate studies of weather and climate patterns significantly altered by the MJO, such as winter blocking. Data from phase 5 of the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project (CMIP5) is used to investigate MJO teleconnection biases due to basic state and MJO biases, and a linear baroclinic model is used to interpret the results. Results indicate that poor basic state GCMs (but with a good MJO) can have equally poor skill in simulating the MJO teleconnection patterns as GCMs with a poor MJO. Large biases in MJO teleconnection patterns occur in GCMs with a zonally extended Pacific subtropical jet relative to reanalysis. In good MJO GCMs, bias in the location and horizontal structure of Indo-Pacific MJO heating is found to have modest impacts on MJO teleconnection patterns. However, East Pacific heating during MJO events can influence MJO teleconnection amplitude and the pathways over North America. Results suggest that both the MJO and the basic state must be well represented in order to properly capture the MJO teleconnection patterns

Structural Obstacles for Women in Academia: Availability and Costs of Campus Child Care

Women face tremendous obstacles to success in academic institutions. While we have witnessed incredible progress in some areas of representation of students, staff, or faculty who are women, outcomes by gender continue to be impacted by structural challenges in higher education. One structural barrier is the availability of child care. The article examines the availability and characteristics of child care centers at institutions with a public service commitment to social equity, as evidenced by offering degree programs accredited by the Network of Schools of Public Policy, Public Affairs, and Public Administration (NASPAA). Findings indicate that, of the 173 schools with NASPAA-accredited programs, 127 schools (73%) provide some type of child care for students, faculty, or staff members. However, the average full-time cost per child exceeds affordability guidelines which indicates a significant structural factor in child-care accessibility. While findings are descriptive, this study provides evidence of institutional barriers for women in academia

Maiden Voyage: A Library and Faculty Development Center Partnership to Promote Information Literacy

Incorporating information literacy skills and competencies into the curriculum requires collaborative partnerships with the library faculty and the academic faculty with whom they work. At Northern Kentucky University’s Steely Library, a non-tenure track faculty position was created to serve in a dual role as a member of the Information Literacy faculty in the library and a member of the faculty in the University’s Professional and Organizational Development Center (POD). This dual role allows for the librarian to gain valuable insight to faculty needs while serving as a faculty member of the POD. Giving teaching faculty the opportunity to encounter the concept of information literacy in a variety of contexts, allows them to become more interested and open to exploring how it can enhance their teaching and student learning. Areas in which the library can enhance faculty understanding and incorporation of the library’s information literacy curriculum are more easily recognized with the librarian embedded into the POD. Targeted and specific information literacy tools such as tutorials, web pages, and blackboard courses are developed and promoted via the POD. The library\u27s information literacy initiatives are marketed via the POD, therefore increasing the library presence among academic faculty. As a member of the library’s Information Literacy and Instruction Team, the librarian is able to report findings from POD activities and use this information to increase the success of the library’s information literacy and instruction programs. This presentation will outline the strategies of this collaborative partnership and describe how it has impacted the integration of information literacy skills into the curriculum

Mindfulness for smoking-cessation : a behavioural and neurophysiological study.

In recent years the effectiveness of skills-training, the mainstay behavioural treatment for smoking-cessation, has been questioned, providing a rationale to investigate alternative treatments. We hypothesised that mindfulness, an emerging treatment for addiction, can reduce smoking by decreasing drug-related processing bias and remediating deficits in inhibitory control. Our study tested this in 37 smokers and 12 non-smokers at baseline, and at a 1–2 month follow-up after smokers used a 22-day long mindfulness-based smoking-cessation programme called Craving to Quit (C2Q), which was delivered via smartphone. Poor inhibitory control was defined as lower accuracy and lower amplitudes of the event-related potentials (ERPs), N2 and P3, elicited in a Go/NoGo task. Drug-related processing bias was defined as higher P3 and late positive potential (LPP) ERP amplitudes elicited for smoking images relative to neutral images, during an image slideshow task. The task also expected to show normal responding to pleasant and unpleasant images in smokers, shown by increased P3 and LPP amplitudes, compared to neutral images. The study replicated a deficit in inhibitory control among smokers (reduced NoGo N2) but found no smoking-related processing bias at baseline. Unexpectedly, the study revealed blunted P3 amplitudes in response to all picture categories, except unpleasant, in smokers at baseline. We suggest that this may be reflective of an anhedonic state during acute withdrawal. A large non-compliance rate led to a follow-up comparison limited to 11 smokers and 11 non-smokers. Although smokers showed significant reductions in average number of cigarettes smoked/day, they showed no change in self-reported craving. They also showed no change in processing to any of the picture categories. We suggest that limitations due to filtering hampered our ability to detect what appeared to be an increased late LPP at frontal electrodes for all categories, potentially reflecting increased awareness from mindfulness. Although smokers showed significantly lower NoGo accuracy compared to non-smokers at follow-up, they also showed increases in a neural marker of inhibitory control (NoGo P3). Further research is required to determine whether this reflects neural improvements preceding changes in behaviour, or reflects a compensatory increase in neural activity during a quit attempt. Overall, our study suggests that mindfulness-treatment can reduce smoking when delivered via smartphone but we cannot confirm whether this is related to mindfulness, the app, being in the study or a quit attempt. Further research comparing C2Q to an alternative intervention group, is needed to further explore C2Q’s mechanisms of action and whether it shows benefit over other apps

Ubiquity of ice nucleation in lichen – possible atmospheric implications

Ice nucleation has previously been described in only a few lichens from a single location. Here we greatly extend this work and suggest that in lichens ice nucleation is a water harvesting adaption. Fifty-seven lichen samples from a variety of widespread locations were tested for ice nucleation by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). Samples initiated freezing in the range –5.1° to –20°C and the median freezing temperature was –7.2°C. The vapour pressure difference between ice and water is significant at this temperature, and so ice grows at the expense of water (Bergeron–Findeisen process). Therefore, the ability to form ice at these temperatures provides a useful water-harvesting mechanism for lichens. Ice nucleation appears to be ubiquitous in lichens and is more likely to be associated with the mycobiont and may influence atmospheric processes

The effect of oral nutrition supplements and appetite stimulants on weight status among pediatric cancer patients: A systematic review

The objective of this study was to identify the use and impact of oral nutrition supplements (ONSs) and appetite stimulants on weight status among pediatric patients diagnosed with malignancy. We performed a literature search of trials using Medline PubMed, CINAHL, Web of Science Core Collection, Scopus, and Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews and included all prospective studies except review articles and case-reports/series that assessed ONSs or appetite stimulants among patients (0-20 years old) diagnosed with a pediatric malignancy. Databases were searched through May 17, 2022. There were six trials included with three studies related to ONS and the remaining on appetite stimulants. No studies that compared both ONS and appetite stimulants were found. To assess quality, we used the Risk of Bias in Nonrandomized Studies of Interventions and the Revised Cochrane Risk of Bias Tool for Randomized Trials depending on the study design. The studies all had pediatric patients diagnosed with a variety of malignancy types. All studies demonstrated improvement of weight status in the treatment group across various malignancy types. However, none of the studies addressed nutrition intakes outside of ONS consumption, compliance to ONSs, or frequency of ONS use. Despite the short durations (3-6 months) and significant differences in the timing of intervention initiation (ONS or appetite stimulants), these treatment modalities can improve weight status. Further research is needed to identify the best intervention for improving weight status

Thirty-eight Ouachita students named to Who\u27s Who

Thirty-eight students from Ouachita Baptist University will be included in the latest edition of Who’s Who Among Students in American Universities and Colleges. The students were chosen by OBU’s faculty, staff and the 2018 senior class based on their academic performance, leadership in extracurricular activities, community service and potential for success

The Learning Gains and Student Perceptions of a Second Life Virtual Lab

This study examines students’ reactions to the virtual biosciences laboratory developed in Second Life® (SL) at the University of East London. Final year undergraduates and masters students studying biotechnology took part in a trial of a virtual Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) experiment in Second Life and evaluated their experience by anonymous questionnaire. Learning gains were measured at various points during the study using pre- and post-tests, and interaction with demonstrators was monitored and compared during the real life (RL) practical. Both groups showed a significant increase in learning gain over the pre- and post-tests, although no difference in gains between the two groups was detected. However, students who conducted the PCR experiment in SL required significantly less demonstrator assistance during the subsequent RL practical. The SL practical was well received by students, with 92% of participants reporting that they would like to use the system again and many requesting other experiments to be made available in this manner in the future

Creating an Interactive Guide to Support Health Disparities Competency

Authors share their educational resource developed for the health sciences, that guides users in awareness of health disparities, vulnerable populations, and social determinants of health, directing them to specific guidance and resources available through the library

ASY1 acts as a dosage-dependent antagonist of telomere-led recombination and mediates crossover interference in Arabidopsis.

During meiosis, interhomolog recombination produces crossovers and noncrossovers to create genetic diversity. Meiotic recombination frequency varies at multiple scales, with high subtelomeric recombination and suppressed centromeric recombination typical in many eukaryotes. During recombination, sister chromatids are tethered as loops to a polymerized chromosome axis, which, in plants, includes the ASY1 HORMA domain protein and REC8-cohesin complexes. Using chromatin immunoprecipitation, we show an ascending telomere-to-centromere gradient of ASY1 enrichment, which correlates strongly with REC8-cohesin ChIP-seq data. We mapped crossovers genome-wide in the absence of ASY1 and observe that telomere-led recombination becomes dominant. Surprisingly, asy1/+ heterozygotes also remodel crossovers toward subtelomeric regions at the expense of the pericentromeres. Telomeric recombination increases in asy1/+ occur in distal regions where ASY1 and REC8 ChIP enrichment are lowest in wild type. In wild type, the majority of crossovers show interference, meaning that they are more widely spaced along the chromosomes than expected by chance. To measure interference, we analyzed double crossover distances, MLH1 foci, and fluorescent pollen tetrads. Interestingly, while crossover interference is normal in asy1/+, it is undetectable in asy1 mutants, indicating that ASY1 is required to mediate crossover interference. Together, this is consistent with ASY1 antagonizing telomere-led recombination and promoting spaced crossover formation along the chromosomes via interference. These findings provide insight into the role of the meiotic axis in patterning recombination frequency within plant genomes.Research was supported by grants from the European Research Council Consolidator award SynthHotSpot and Proof-of-Concept award HEIREC and BBSRC ERA-CAPs Grant BB/M004937/1